Registration of a high‐yielding introgression Upland cotton cultivar, ‘NuMex COT 19’

The New Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station announces the release of ‘NuMex COT 19’ (Reg. CV‐151, PI 709375) cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L.), selected as a progeny row in F 2.6 from an interspecific hybrid between ‘Acala 1517–99’ ( G. hirsutum L.; Reg. No. CV‐115, PI 612326, PVP 200000181) and ‘PHY 76 Pima’ ( G. barbadense L.; PI 617048, PVP 200100120). Tested in New Mexico between 2009 and 2013, NuMex COT 19 exceeded the average lint yield of its high‐yielding Upland parent Acala 1517–99 by 52.6% and exceeded the yield of the more recent high‐yielding release ‘Acala 1517–08’ by 21.8%. When tested in 13 locations across 11 Southern states in 2012, the average yield of NuMex COT 19 was significantly higher (by 26.7%) than that of Acala 1517–08. Except for the two Texas locations where its yield advantage was low (by 3%–6%), the average yield of NuMex COT 19 was 10%–51% higher than that of Acala 1517–08, and the differences were significant in 9 of the 13 individual tests. Among the 32 cultivars and strains tested, NuMex COT 19 ranked second overall for lint yield and also produced significantly higher average yield (7.2%–16.5%) than the three commercial checks, ‘DP 393’, ‘SG 105’, and ‘FM 958’. Compared with Acala 1517–08 and the three commercial cultivars, NuMex COT 19 had smaller bolls and seed, a lower lint index, and more seed per boll. It had a higher lint percentage and shorter and weaker fibers than Acala 1517–08, but finer fibers than the three commercial cultivars. NuMex COT 19 represents one of the first Upland cotton cultivars with a significant improvement in lint yield through direct introgression breeding with Pima cotton.